Systems Analysis and Design in a Changing World, sixth edition 3-7
8. Again considering the library, ask some students what their goals are in using the library
system. Also ask some library employees about their goals in using the system. Name these goals
as use cases (verb-noun) and discuss whether student users have different goals than employee
users.
Answers will vary:
Students may have goals of:
Check book availability
Verify books checked out
Check outstanding fines
Reserve library materials
Librarians will have goals
Patron wants to check out book
Patron returns book
Check book availability
Reserver library materials
Add a new book to library
Remove a book from library
Update book information
9. Visit a restaurant or the college food service to talk to a server (or talk with a friend who is a
food server). Ask about the external events and temporal events, as you did in exercise 7. What
are the events and resulting use cases for order processing at a restaurant?
Answers will vary. External events might include Customer places order, Customer changes
order, Kitchen returns completed order, Customer pays bill, and so on. Temporal events might
include Time to produce daily order totals report, Time to produce weekly sales analysis
reports, and so on.
10. Review the procedures for course registration at your university and then talk with the staff
in advising, in registration, and in your major department. Think about the sequence that goes on
over an entire semester. What are the events that students trigger? What are the events that your
own department triggers? What are the temporal events that result in information going to
students? What are the temporal events that result in information going to instructors or
departments? List all the events and the resulting use cases that should be included in the system.
Answers will vary. Events might include Department schedules a class, Student enrolls in a
class, Student changes schedule, Student drops a class, Instructor submits final grades, Time to
generate grade report for students, Time to produce enrollment totals report for administration,
and Time to produce class lists for faculty. Note that the event names should indicate
information about the external agent or actor involved. Temporal events make the most sense if
Time to is used at the beginning of the event name.